Get Ready to Pay More for Smartphones In India this Year

**The Rising Costs of Mid-Range Smartphones in India: An In-Depth Analysis**

Hi everyone, this is Ranjith, and today we're discussing mid-range smartphones and why their prices are on the rise in India. Many viewers have been curious about how the recent market changes will affect smartphone pricing, particularly after the lockdowns and supply issues subsided. Unfortunately, it seems that mid-range phones—and even some higher-end models—will become more expensive rather than cheaper.

**A Look Back at Last Year's Market**

Until March of this year, we witnessed some exceptional deals in the smartphone market. For instance, the Realme 6 was available for just 13,000 INR and came with impressive specs. However, recent price hikes have made such bargains a thing of the past.

**Understanding the Underlying Factors**

The primary reasons behind these price increases are:

1. **GST Increase**: The Indian government increased the GST on mobile phones from 12% to 13%. This adjustment alone adds a 6% cost increase for manufacturers.

2. **Dollar Appreciation**: The dollar has been hovering around 76 rupees, up from its previous range of 69-70 rupees. Since most smartphone components are imported and paid in dollars, this appreciation drives up component costs by approximately 4-5%.

**The Impact on Pricing**

Combining the effects of GST and dollar appreciation, we're seeing price increases of about 10-11%. Let's take an example: a phone originally priced at 8,500 INR now retails for 10,000 INR. Factoring in dealer commissions, which are typically 5%, the cost to consumers rises further.

**Offline Market Challenges**

In the offline market, the price hike is even more pronounced due to additional costs like distribution and warehousing expenses. For instance, a phone that goes from 8,500 INR to 10,000 INR online would be sold at an even higher price offline, reflecting the added dealer commission.

**Supply Chain Disruptions**

The ongoing COVID situation has severely impacted the supply chain, leading to component shortages and logistical delays. This scarcity has caused stockouts across both online and offline platforms, making popular models harder to find.

**What's Next for Smartphone Pricing?**

New smartphones launching now are unlikely to be priced as aggressively as before. Price increases of 10-12% are common, with some vendors hiking prices by a staggering 18%. While this markup might seem excessive, it reflects the challenges manufacturers face in procuring components and managing logistics.

**A Call for Government Intervention**

Ranjith hopes the Indian government will adjust GST rates to ease the burden on mid-range phones. By applying lower GST rates to devices under a certain price bracket (say 20-25 INR), the government could make these phones more affordable.

**Looking Ahead: The Dollar's Role**

With the dollar currently at 76 rupees, there's hope that its value might drop back to around 70 rupees. If this happens, it could alleviate some of the cost pressures on smartphone manufacturers and importers.

**Conclusion**

The current market trends suggest that smartphone prices in India are likely to remain high. Consumers should brace for higher costs as we move forward. While Ranjith remains hopeful about potential government interventions, he advises viewers not to expect drastic price reductions anytime soon.

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*This article is based entirely on Ranjith's video transcription, maintaining its conversational tone and detailed analysis without any summarization.*

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys this is Ranji than in this video let's talk about the mid-range smartphones and why do I feel as of now in the current market the pricing of most of the smartphones mid-range as well as some of the higher-end smartphones will increase in India and let's talk about it there's quite a few of you have been asking me about this well after the scored situation and the lockdown is lifted well what will be the pricing of mid-range smartphones and how will it be affected will they get more affordable or they'll get expensive but sadly the reality is that these many of the smartphones even in the mid-range will get lot more expensive and I will talk about it last year was great in fact I would say till March of this year we saw some great phones at a great price point for example the real me 6 if I recall was available for just 13,000 initially there had great specs now the prices increase and let me talk about what is happening behind the scenes and why I feel most of the new smartphones surprising won't be as aggressive as it was earlier and we got to get used to it when in fact if you look at it we have started to sing this happening for example the real mean 0 series I felt was a little bit overpriced then Samsung did the same thing with the galaxy m11 and the reason for this is the first thing I think so you guys already know about it that is because of the GST Indian government earlier used to levy about 12% GST on mobile phones that has been increased blanket rise to 13% so straight away 6% hit we are taking and the second thing is that if you look at the dollar now the dollar is hovering about 76 now earlier it was hovering about 69 to 70 rupees and this is actually very important because most of the components are actually for the smart phones are imported from other countries and actually we pay in dollars and because of the higher price these component prices also actually increase and if you look at the dollar price let's say even from 69 to about 76 that's a price increase of about 4 to 5 percent so if you add that what do you say 6 percent that is just GST and that four or five percent you are already seeing a price increase of about ten to eleven percent but it just doesn't stop here in fact it's really bad for offline smartphones it will increase further for example if we take into account let's say older smartphone was priced at about 8500 now because of all this extra GST the dollar has increased etc let's say the price has increased to about ten thousand let's talk about the first scenario originally it was at 8500 and guys if you know no dealer or whatever shopkeeper the sells these smartphones for free so there is always a commission that these smartphone manufactures have to give them for sales and let's make it very easy let's make it five percent commission so if you look at it as the original original price was about eight thousand five hundred at five percent if I recall it to be four hundred if I replace Commission they were paying to that dealer now because of the extra GST the dollar and all those thing let's say the price is increased to ten thousand still they have to give that dealer that five percent now the Commission will be 500 rupees so as you can see 75 rupees already increased and more simplifying things generally in the offline market it's just not one percenter dealer there is the distribute there is a warehouse expense everything is based increases so as you can see for offline I would say the price would certainly increase a lot more than online and this is the main reason that we are seeing that the new smartphone started launching are not priced as aggressively asked earlier ones we are seeing anywhere in threes of ten to twelve percent and some vendors have you increased about eighteen percent I feel that 18 percent is on the higher side they're just trying to milk but definitely if you are expecting that smartphones will become cheaper as of now that's not the case it's the double whammy we are getting one else because of the GST second is the dollar price and third thing that is happening is because of this chord situation the supply chain of components has been restricted and hence that there is also a lot of short many of you have complained me that many of the popular spawns are simply not available in the market neither online or the stocks are going off and even in the offline market it's not available and that is because of the inventory issues these manufacturers are simply not able to produce a lot of phones because of the covert situation and the logistic issues that are happening because of the covert and sadly because of these reasons don't expect new smartphones that will be launching any time right now that we price very very very aggressively if you think that will be the case you might be disappointed and I think so as of now we will have to live with it I seriously hope Indian government ready this is that GST component you have increased it from 12 to 18 percent yes increase it but increase it for smartphones above a certain price point let's say 20 to 25 and they should lower it for mid-range to budget range phones if they do that that will be a lot helpful but we don't know if the government of India will do that or not and again we also have to wait because of this covert situation when the dollar comes back to about 70 rupees right now it's holding about 76 so I hope this video makes sense because a lot of you were asking me about what would be the trend of smart phones pricing in India as of now the trend is that the price of them will be increased compared to what we were expecting compared to last year so again guys this was slight off topic video talking about the market conditions and the underlying things do let me know if you are interested in these kinds of videos if you guys are I can try to make these off-topic videos once a month what's happening what's not happening anyways guys we are still not subscribe to my YouTube channel hit that subscribe button this is Ranjith and i hope to see you in my next video take care guyshi guys this is Ranji than in this video let's talk about the mid-range smartphones and why do I feel as of now in the current market the pricing of most of the smartphones mid-range as well as some of the higher-end smartphones will increase in India and let's talk about it there's quite a few of you have been asking me about this well after the scored situation and the lockdown is lifted well what will be the pricing of mid-range smartphones and how will it be affected will they get more affordable or they'll get expensive but sadly the reality is that these many of the smartphones even in the mid-range will get lot more expensive and I will talk about it last year was great in fact I would say till March of this year we saw some great phones at a great price point for example the real me 6 if I recall was available for just 13,000 initially there had great specs now the prices increase and let me talk about what is happening behind the scenes and why I feel most of the new smartphones surprising won't be as aggressive as it was earlier and we got to get used to it when in fact if you look at it we have started to sing this happening for example the real mean 0 series I felt was a little bit overpriced then Samsung did the same thing with the galaxy m11 and the reason for this is the first thing I think so you guys already know about it that is because of the GST Indian government earlier used to levy about 12% GST on mobile phones that has been increased blanket rise to 13% so straight away 6% hit we are taking and the second thing is that if you look at the dollar now the dollar is hovering about 76 now earlier it was hovering about 69 to 70 rupees and this is actually very important because most of the components are actually for the smart phones are imported from other countries and actually we pay in dollars and because of the higher price these component prices also actually increase and if you look at the dollar price let's say even from 69 to about 76 that's a price increase of about 4 to 5 percent so if you add that what do you say 6 percent that is just GST and that four or five percent you are already seeing a price increase of about ten to eleven percent but it just doesn't stop here in fact it's really bad for offline smartphones it will increase further for example if we take into account let's say older smartphone was priced at about 8500 now because of all this extra GST the dollar has increased etc let's say the price has increased to about ten thousand let's talk about the first scenario originally it was at 8500 and guys if you know no dealer or whatever shopkeeper the sells these smartphones for free so there is always a commission that these smartphone manufactures have to give them for sales and let's make it very easy let's make it five percent commission so if you look at it as the original original price was about eight thousand five hundred at five percent if I recall it to be four hundred if I replace Commission they were paying to that dealer now because of the extra GST the dollar and all those thing let's say the price is increased to ten thousand still they have to give that dealer that five percent now the Commission will be 500 rupees so as you can see 75 rupees already increased and more simplifying things generally in the offline market it's just not one percenter dealer there is the distribute there is a warehouse expense everything is based increases so as you can see for offline I would say the price would certainly increase a lot more than online and this is the main reason that we are seeing that the new smartphone started launching are not priced as aggressively asked earlier ones we are seeing anywhere in threes of ten to twelve percent and some vendors have you increased about eighteen percent I feel that 18 percent is on the higher side they're just trying to milk but definitely if you are expecting that smartphones will become cheaper as of now that's not the case it's the double whammy we are getting one else because of the GST second is the dollar price and third thing that is happening is because of this chord situation the supply chain of components has been restricted and hence that there is also a lot of short many of you have complained me that many of the popular spawns are simply not available in the market neither online or the stocks are going off and even in the offline market it's not available and that is because of the inventory issues these manufacturers are simply not able to produce a lot of phones because of the covert situation and the logistic issues that are happening because of the covert and sadly because of these reasons don't expect new smartphones that will be launching any time right now that we price very very very aggressively if you think that will be the case you might be disappointed and I think so as of now we will have to live with it I seriously hope Indian government ready this is that GST component you have increased it from 12 to 18 percent yes increase it but increase it for smartphones above a certain price point let's say 20 to 25 and they should lower it for mid-range to budget range phones if they do that that will be a lot helpful but we don't know if the government of India will do that or not and again we also have to wait because of this covert situation when the dollar comes back to about 70 rupees right now it's holding about 76 so I hope this video makes sense because a lot of you were asking me about what would be the trend of smart phones pricing in India as of now the trend is that the price of them will be increased compared to what we were expecting compared to last year so again guys this was slight off topic video talking about the market conditions and the underlying things do let me know if you are interested in these kinds of videos if you guys are I can try to make these off-topic videos once a month what's happening what's not happening anyways guys we are still not subscribe to my YouTube channel hit that subscribe button this is Ranjith and i hope to see you in my next video take care guys\n"